MQ-25 and H-1 helicopters test new satellite communications system
NewsMay 03, 2023
PATUXENT RIVER, Maryland. The Marine Corps' UH-1Y helicopter completed an initial flight on April 26 at Naval Air Station Pax River to test data transmission using the new Mobile User Objective System (MUOS) Satellite Communications (SATCOM) capability for the MQ-25 Stingray, Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) said in a statement.
Teams at the Dedicated Unmanned Carrier Aviation (UCA) Development Environment (DUDE) lab in St. Inigoes, Maryland, and the Communications Systems Integration Laboratory (CSIL) at Pax River transmitted data to the UH-1Y during the flight to demonstrate MUOS connectivity, resilience, and viability with a maneuvering aircraft.
MUOS is a communications satellite system intended to provide global connectivity to military networks with faster operation, additional payloads, new waveform capabilities, and compatibility with legacy UHF satellite communications systems, the statement reads.
Testing MUOS with the H-1 will facilitate MQ-25 test infrastructure development and ensure MUOS connectivity configuration while allowing the PMA-268 program team to observe MUOS flight characteristics, NAVAIR says.
